Faceless Void
[wiki] rating: 2.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Oracle
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Primal Beast
* Oracle can negate and shut down Primal Beast simply with Fate's Edict, especially in the early game, as a majority of his damage-dealing spells are magic.
* Oracle can interrupt Primal Beast's Onslaught charge with a well-timed Fortune's End.
* Primal Beast's lethal burst damage combos can be further stalled with False Promise; combined with Fate's Edict and regen from Purifying Flames, Oracle can even completely negate Primal Beast's offense.
Additional:
* Fate's Edict completely negates all of Primal Beast's major damage-dealing spells in the early game and can render Primal Beast useless when cast on a target he is focusing, or in Oracle's defense against Primal Beast himself.
* Fortune's End keeps Primal Beast in place, especially while trampling or in the middle of an Onslaught charge.
* False Promise can interrupt Primal Beast's Pulverize, as well as further delay Primal Beast from dealing lethal burst damage. In combination with
Fortune's End, Oracle can potentially save an ally from Primal Beast's spell combos.
Outworld Destroyer
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Arcane Orb's pure damage ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Astral Imprisonment can be used to stop Mars from being disruptive or save allies from his abilities.
* Sanity's Eclipse deals high damage to Mars, due to his low intelligence pool.
Primal Beast
* Primal Beast is mostly played in the offlane role, so picking a carry who can escape from him is essential. Heroes such as Troll Warlord,
Lone Druid and
Outworld Destroyer, or generally any carry with a stun, slow or ability to fight back will stop him from having the good start he needs.
Enigma
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Primal Beast
* Malefice will prevent Primal Beast from doing anything for a long duration even in the early game when at his strongest.
* Midnight Pulse will scale with his max health so will do a ton of damage combined with any generic stun or Enigma's own abilities.
* Primal Beast relies completely on mobility to do damage, Black Hole makes sure he cannot use any abilities or threaten heroes he is typically good against.
Ogre Magi
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* It is difficult for Mars to trade blows with Ogre Magi in the early game thanks to his high base health, resistance and Ignite.
* Bloodlust can assist Ogre Magi or an ally in repositioning against Mars for its move speed bonus.
* Fireblast can interrupt and mitigate Mars from performing his skill combos, especially in combination with
Multicast.
Primal Beast
* Supports who can slow him to the point Trample does very little damage in lane are also not fun: Lich,
Ogre Magi,
Winter Wyvern.
Invoker
[wiki] rating: 1.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 14%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Primal Beast
* Invoker's numerous area-of-effect abilities can interrupt Primal Beast, especially while he is in the middle of a team fight, where Primal Beast thrives. (Tornado,
Cold Snap, and
Ice Wall all help to disable Primal Beast and control him from a distance.
* EMP disintegrates Primal Beast's low mana pool.
* However, Invoker is quite a slow paced hero and not particularly known for being survivable against a rampaging Primal Beast with Black King Bar.
Lone Druid
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Nukers who have set amounts of damage will really struggle against Lone Druid especially in True Form: Puck,
Void Spirit,
Mars.
Primal Beast
* Primal Beast is mostly played in the offlane role, so picking a carry who can escape from him is essential. Heroes such as Troll Warlord,
Lone Druid and
Outworld Destroyer, or generally any carry with a stun, slow or ability to fight back will stop him from having the good start he needs.
Dazzle
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Primal Beast
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane; this includes Dazzle,
Shadow Demon and
Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
Dark Willow
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Primal Beast
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane; this includes Dazzle,
Shadow Demon and
Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
Shadow Demon
[wiki] rating: 1.2 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Heroes with break abilities: Shadow Demon (with
Aghanim's Scepter),
Viper.
Primal Beast
* Primal Beast really suffers against supports he cannot bully in the lane; this includes Dazzle,
Shadow Demon and
Dark Willow since they can use their respective abilities to stop Primal Beast from dealing burst damage, or make it hard for him to stay in range.
Death Prophet
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 11%)Primal Beast
* Silence can be used to interrupt Primal Beast while he is channeling Pulverize.
* Spirit Siphon can whittle down Primal Beast's health and can potentially heal back any burst damage he deals to her.
* Exorcism can shed Primal Beast's health down while he attempts to complete any skill combos during a fight with it active.
Huskar
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Burning Spear's magical damage is very troublesome for Mars in the laning stage.
* Life Break's percentage-based magical damage bypasses Bulwark, and can also be used to jump in or out of Arena Of Blood.
Undying
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Decay,
Soul Rip and
Flesh Golem all deal magical damage which ignores Bulwark.
* Decay reduces Mars' natural strength and therefore his health pool, which is what he relies on to trade effectively in lane.
Underlord
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Firestorm and
Pit of Malice are very disruptive in team fights, completely matching Mars especially since it can all be cast inside Arena Of Blood and also does percentage-based magical damage, negating Bulwark.
* Dark Rift can save any allies of Underlord trapped in Arena Of Blood.
* Atrophy Aura allows Underlord to lane against Mars quite well since he does not have the best base damage during the early game.
* Underlord is a common carrier of both Pipe of Insight and
Mekansm/
Guardian Greaves, allowing his team to combat Mars in the mid to late game.
Venomancer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Venomancer's spells all deal magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective at kiting Mars.
* Plague Ward can attack through Arena Of Blood.
Additional:
* Venomancer's poison attacks are all magical damage, ignoring Bulwark.
* Venomancer's multiple slows are especially effective against Mars' low mobility.
* Plague Wards can attack through Arena of Blood.
Dawnbreaker
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 8%)Mars
* Solar Guardian can save allies caught inside Arena of Blood
Necrophos
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Necrophos' largely magical damage completely ignores Bulwark.
* Ghost Shroud protects Necrophos from God's Rebuke but more importantly stops Mars from being a threat in lane.
Lina
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* Dragon Slave deals reliable magic damage during the laning phase against Mars.
* Lina's Eul's Scepter of Divinity and
Light Strike Array combo can interrupt Mars from being disruptive for a decent amount of time and leave him vulnerable for follow up stuns.
* Laguna Blade deals massive magical damage, and pure damage with
Aghanim's Scepter.
Clockwerk
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 8%)Primal Beast
* Power Cogs keeps Primal Beast pinned down, preventing him from doing damage with Trample. Primal Beast's slow attack speed makes it hard for him to break the cogs and get away. In addition, Power Cogs' knockback is forced movement, and thus will intercept Primal Beast's Onslaught if placed well.
* Battery Assault on a lone Primal Beast in the early game effectively keeps him from winding up Onslaught or basic attacking.
* Rocket Flare and
Jetpack (from purchasing
Aghanim's Shard) give Clockwerk many options to scout for Primal Beast, whose kit benefits greatly from ambushing.
Leshrac
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Primal Beast
* Diabolic Edict makes Leshrac very effective at threatening early towers and objectives which can directly cause unfavourable conflicts with Primal Beast early before he has
Black King Bar to deal with the magical damage.
* Pulse Nova and the rest of Leshrac's spells can overwhelm Primal Beast with magical damage.
* Leshrac has generally faster movement speed than Primal Beast, especially if he has items such as Boots of Travel and
Eul's Scepter of Divinity.
* Bloodstone also makes him heal much more than Primal Beast can damage him at any stage of the game.
Axe
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Berserker's Call forces Mars to face in the direction choosen.
* Counter Helix deals pure damage and can go through Bulwark.
Tusk
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 15%)Mars
* Snowball can protect Tusk and his teammates from a Spear of Mars' stun after an Arena of Blood, and with proper targeting, even bring them out of the Arena. This is especially noticeable in the earlier stages of the game before allies buy
Black King Bar and rely on this less. Even during the late-game, Tusk can purchase a
Blink Dagger to save allies that are caught before Black King Bars can be used by Blinking in and Snowballing out.
* Tag Team is a constant threat to Mars in-lane, as it deals significant damage and slow, making Bulwark slightly ineffective.
* It is worth noting that Ice Shards can be detrimental to Tusk's own team by creating terrain that Spear of Mars can latch on, though using it conservatively is a good enough solution in most cases.
Earth Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Primal Beast
* Rolling Boulder and
Geomagnetic Grip allows Earth Spirit to easily stun, silence and interrupt Primal Beast in fights. Rolling Boulder can also be used to escape Primal Beast.
* Boulder Smash can push Primal Beast away and disrupt his Trample. In combination with
Stone Remnant, Primal Beast can be slowed from a distance.
Zeus
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 14%)Mars
* Mars' own father is a formidable foe because Zeus deals massive amounts of magical damage. The high damage, low cooldown nukes of Arc Lightning and
Lightning Bolt combined with the percent health magic damage of
Static Field will shred Mars' health because it bypasses Bulwark completely.
Viper
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Nethertoxin breaks the damage block from Bulwark.
* Poison Attack and
Viper Strike's slows make it difficult for Mars to contribute to fights due to his low mobility.
Additional:
* Nethertoxin disables
Bulwark entirely, making Mars far less tanky. Using
Nethertoxin inside
Arena of Blood may discourage enemies from following up with Mars' initiation.
* Rod of Atos is currently common on Viper and keeps Mars in position long enough to be killed.
* Beware that Viper is not very tanky earlier in the game, so positioning against Mars is important since a well-timed Spear of Mars can be the end of Viper.
Storm Spirit
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Ball Lightning makes it almost impossible to catch Storm Spirit without someone else initiating for you.
* Overload is not reduced by Bulwark and the magical damage spam can wear down Mars quickly.
Additional:
* Storm Spirit's abilities all do magical damage, which can bypass Bulwark.
* Ball Lightning can escape through
Arena of Blood and it is easy to dodge
Spear of Mars.
Lifestealer
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Rage, acting as a pseudo-
Black King Bar, completely negates Mars' initiation if used in time.
* Feast does damage and heals based on max health, perfect against high-health strength heroes like Mars.
* Infest allows Lifestealer to potentially save allies from Mars' initiation with a quick burst of extra health.
Disruptor
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Primal Beast
* Glimpse can prevent Onslaught in the laning stage very easily.
* While Static Storm is not much of a threat in terms of damage, it does prevent Primal Beast from casting any spells for a long period of time if also trapped in
Kinetic Field.
* Overall, Disruptor forces Primal Beast to buy a Black King Bar much earlier than he might like but becomes a major threat to Disruptor once he does.
Batrider
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Sticky Napalm slows turn rate, making it difficult for Mars to face frontwards, where Spear of Mars and Bulwark are effective. In combination with
Firefly, which deals magic damage, Batrider can make quick work of Mars.
* Flaming Lasso disables Mars while enemies re-position themselves behind Mars to avoid Bulwark.
Sven
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Primal Beast
* Storm Hammer is a good stun used in response to Primal Beast's initiation.
* Warcry can be used to outrun Primal Beast, or in response to his Uproar damage boost.
* God's Strength will make sure work of Primal Beast if caught alone due to it's increased damage.
Shadow Fiend
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 18%)Mars
* Shadowraze deals magic damage and ignores Bulwark.
* Requiem of Souls deals magic damage and can fear Mars away, forcing him to turn around and therefore become vulnerable.
Marci
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Rebound allows her to jump in or out of the Arena Of Blood. She can save her allies from the Arena with Dispose as well.
Pangolier
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 9%)Mars
* Swashbuckle is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Shield Crash upgraded with Aghanim is an auto attack and therefore ignores Mars' Bulwark.
* Rolling Thunder makes him immune to magic, making Pangolier able to roll in and out of Mars' Arena Of Blood.
Grimstroke
[wiki] rating: 1.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 4%)Primal Beast
* Phantom's Embrace is very threatening due to Primal Beast being quite spell reliant, and not being able to attack during Trample and can immediately cancel Pulverize.
* Soulbind can prevent movement in a way that's very hampering for Primal Beast's Trample and Onslaught. It can also cancel Onslaught very abruptly.
* Ink Swell can stun Primal Beast and give the holder a strong dispel with the shard. The stun can easily stop Trample damage or Pulverize from continuing even if it's not Primal Beast's main target.
Ursa
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Mars
* Ursa is a special mention because despite Bulwark diminishing most of the damage Ursa does, he is quite durable, especially with
Enrage, discouraging the aggressive all-in playstyle of Mars; Ursa can simply not target Mars.
Legion Commander
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 13%)Mars
* Legion Commander is both good and bad vs Mars, on the plus side she can dispel Spear of Mars with
Press the Attack and is a good
Silver Edge carrier. However, Mars is not an ideal
Duel target, as Bulwark will force her to 1: Buy Silver Edge, and 2: Hit Mars with it before the Duel, allowing a skilled Mars to react, especially with
Eul's Scepter of Divinity. In teamfights, Mars will happily draw attention after using his abilities, and tank the Duel with all spells on cooldown.
Primal Beast
* Duel prevents Primal Beast from using all of his spells and stops all of his damage output.
* Moment of Courage will not proc if Primal Beast is using Trample so you may want to play around that if you're looking for duel damage with a
Blade Mail.
* Press the Attack can be used to dispel Pulverize immediately and make allies survive Trample for a short duration with the heal.
Mars
* Because Duel requires both combatants to face each other, Bulwark's effectiveness will be increased by a huge margin, which makes it much more difficult for Legion Commander to win any duels against him.
* Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke pushes Legion Commander away during Duels against allies.
Additional:
* Bulwark immensely mitigates Duel, even with bonus physical damage, as Bulwark scales by percentage. Mars can also buy time for a dueled ally by pushing Legion Commander away with Spear of Mars.
Phoenix
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes with high health especially Strength heroes will take more damage on Sun Ray: Axe,
Pudge,
Bristleback,
Mars.
Nyx Assassin
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 4%)Primal Beast
* Like above, supports with reliable stuns can be a massive problem and force Black King Bar in fights unideally, such as
Shadow Shaman,
Lion,
Nyx Assassin.
Skywrath Mage
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Shadow Shaman
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 6%)Primal Beast
* Like above, supports with reliable stuns can be a massive problem and force Black King Bar in fights unideally, such as
Shadow Shaman,
Lion,
Nyx Assassin.
Winter Wyvern
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 3%)Primal Beast
* Supports who can slow him to the point Trample does very little damage in lane are also not fun: Lich,
Ogre Magi,
Winter Wyvern.
Bane
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes that depend on disrupting fights with ability combos or big ultimate abilities are vulnerable to the long stun of Fiend's Grip: Disruptor,
Death Prophet,
Enigma,
Faceless Void,
Invoker,
Lich,
Magnus,
Mars,
Medusa,
Outworld Destroyer,
Phoenix,
Puck,
Queen of Pain,
Shadow Fiend,
Treant Protector,
Underlord,
Winter Wyvern,
Witch Doctor,
Zeus.
Kunkka
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Kunkka's
Ghostship and
Torrent disrupt fights in Arena Of Blood.
Timbersaw
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 5%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Lion
[wiki] rating: 0.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 10%)Primal Beast
* Like above, supports with reliable stuns can be a massive problem and force Black King Bar in fights unideally, such as
Shadow Shaman,
Lion,
Nyx Assassin.
Riki
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 13%)Mars
* Blink Strike gives bonus backstab damage and can bypass Bulwark. Defensively, it could be used to teleport away from Mars, especially while inside Arena of Blood.
* Smoke Screen can interrupt Mars' skill combos, especially when cast inside Arena of Blood.
* Tricks of the Trade can be used to evade Mars' skills, which have a slight delay to them. It could also be used to buy himself time while trapped inside of Arena of Blood.
Additional:
* Bulwark is generally irrelevant against Riki as he primarily deals bonus damage from behind.
Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Troll Warlord
[wiki] rating: 0.4 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Primal Beast
* The ensare from melee Berserker's Rage can prevent Primal Beast from dealing further Trample damage and can allow Troll Warlord to relentlessly build
Fervor on him.
* Whirling Axes (Ranged) can slow down Primal Beast while trampling and allow Troll Warlord to better control him from range.
* Whirling Axes (Melee) can blind Primal Beast if he attempts to auto-attack Troll Warlord after a fully charged Uproar.
* Battle Trance will make Primal Beast a sitting duck should he be rooted and attacked to death. It might be wise to save Pulverize for after this spell is used so you have a defensive measure against Troll Warlord.
Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Sniper
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Even if he can slow Mars down with Shrapnel and
Headshot, Mars can tank Sniper's physical damage simply by facing him with Bulwark, allowing him to endure his auto-attacks into the late-game. Should Sniper choose to attack someone else, Mars can redirect his projectiles with Bulwark's active ability.
* Sniper's poor mobility makes him very vulnerable to Arena of Blood, especially in the early game. Mars can also take advantage of this by pushing him closer to the front line with Spear of Mars.
Primal Beast
* Primal Beast is one of Sniper's greatest counters, as he has no real means of escape and is very squishy, especially in the early game. Sniper's potshots and Shrapnel can contribute to Primal Beast's Uproar and further make him tankier than he already is. Onslaught allows him to close the gap on Sniper at his own volition, and Trample can deal serious damage to his meager health pool. Should Sniper acquire an item of escape, Primal Beast can still delay him with Pulverize. Overall, Sniper is an ideal target for Primal Beast to constantly threaten in all stages of the game, and it can force Sniper to itemise for him.
Phantom Assassin
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Phantom Assassin's high physical damage is greatly reduced by Bulwark.
* God's Rebuke has true strike, ignoring the evasion from Blur.
Primal Beast
* Phantom Assassin is known to be weak against bursts of magical damage, something Primal Beast excels at from the beginning of the game. He can use this to his advantage by constantly hunting Phantom Assassin down, especially if she is left alone to farm.
* Primal Beast is a good carrier of Ethereal Blade,
Vanguard and
Shiva's Guard all of which are very good against
Coup de Grace and
Phantom Strike.
* Even though Primal Beast does alot of physical damage early on, later once Blur becomes more potent, she may find herself being overwhelmed by Trample and Pulverize instead.
* Primal Beast also has a level 25 talent which makes Pulverize go through spell immunity which is especially effective against a hero like Phantom Assassin who relies on it.
Juggernaut
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Bulwark mitigates
Omnislash which deals physical damage, severely reducing its damage.
* Omnislash switch to opposite direction with each slash, so Mars can easily reduce most of its damage.
* However because {Ability ID:Blade Fury|Juggernaut} gives spell immunity Juggernaut can easily escape from {Ability ID:Arena Of Blood|Mars}.
Additional:
* Juggernaut deals mostly physical damage, which is easily mitigated with Bulwark.
* Juggernaut's Omnislash switches to opposite directions which each slash, so Mars can mitigate most of its damage since he only takes full damage from one direction: his back.
Primal Beast
* Primal Beast can use Uproar to tank a portion of Omnislash, giving him an edge in surviving it. Primal Beast can also dash away after Omnislash with Onslaught, disallowing Juggernaut from any follow-ups.
* Blade Fury will never do more damage than Uproar once the stacks are activated.
* Primal Beast is very commonly buying items that are good against Juggernaut, such as Ethereal Blade and
Heart of Tarrasque.
Slark
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 17%)Mars
* Bulwark blocks much of Slark's basic attack damage, even during Shadow Dance.
* Slark finds it very difficult to have a good early/mid game when pressured in the early game by Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can hit Slark through Shadow Dance and
Depth Shroud.
* Should Pounce be on cooldown, Slark is very vulnerable inside Arena of Blood.
Primal Beast
* Dark Pact,
Shadow Dance and
Depth Shroud will do nothing against Onslaught and Trample, as they are both ground area-of-effect spells.
* Primal Beast has a gigantic hitbox, which could be difficult for Slark to escape with Pounce should Primal Beast choose to block him. Pounce also does not completely prevent Primal Beast from trampling offensively, as he still has some room to move.
* Primal Beast has a huge health pool; shedding it with Essence Shift can take time and may allow Primal Beast to build Uproar against him. Should he survive Slark's slew of skills, Primal Beast can simply Pulverize him to finish him off.
Spectre
[wiki] rating: -2.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Spectre cannot have a good game if she is pressured heavily in lane, which is something Mars can do. He may even force her to cast Haunt as an escape, putting it on a long cooldown.
* Should Spectre get to the late game, Mars can block a large amount of her damage with Bulwark and can mitigate some of the chaos caused by her Haunt illusions with God's Rebuke.
Primal Beast
* Dispersion reduces damage based on a percentage, which is very minimal against large amounts of small instances of damage such as Trample. It reduces each tick by about 14 at maximum level, which is very small.
* Desolate is never a threat to Primal Beast due to his large health pool and Uproar still out damaging the ability.
* Onslaught can allow Primal Beast to chase Spectre fleeing with Spectral Dagger, as both skills phase through trees and terrain.
* Primal Beast can be strong enough to force a farming Spectre to flee with Haunt, putting it on a long cooldown and potentially leading her to an ally that can finish her off.
* Primal Beast excels at early aggression, pushing weak carries out of lane and farming areas he wants to control. Overall just not a pleasant matchup for Spectre.
Terrorblade
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Bulwark negates most of the physical damage from Terrorblade and his illusions.
* God's Rebuke and Spear of Mars can decimate Terrorblade's illusions quickly.
Primal Beast
* Illusion heroes will struggle against Primal Beast's area damage capability, such as Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Terrorblade.
Magnus
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 15%)Mars
* Any hero who can counter-initiate in anticipation without getting caught in Reverse Polarity: Sven,
Omniknight,
Enigma,
Luna,
Naga Siren,
Mars,
Jakiro,
Venomancer,
Elder Titan,
Faceless Void,
Rubick,
Keeper of the Light,
Pugna,
Invoker,
Spectre,
Alchemist,
Treant Protector,
Lina,
Oracle,
Zeus,
Shadow Shaman,
Phoenix,
Razor,
Huskar,
Batrider,
Kunkka,
Tidehunter,
Wraith King,
Sand King,
Medusa,
Dawnbreaker.
Primal Beast
* Magnus is not tanky and struggles against burst damage, something Primal Beast excels at in the early-to-mid game. Primal Beast is also able to out-damage Magnus's Empower and can even contribute to his Uproar stacks.
* Using Skewer to drag Primal Beast while he is trampling will count as movement and will trigger a rapid number of slams, which could prove lethal to Magnus.
Drow Ranger
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 18%)Mars
* As long as Mars is facing her with Bulwark, even if pushed away with Gust, Drow Ranger will do no effectual damage against him. Mars' ability to endure her onslaught usually gives him enough time to cast Arena of Blood, of which she has a very slim chance surviving without Gust.
* With Bulwark's active ability, Mars can protect allies pursued by Drow Ranger by redirecting her projectiles to his shield instead.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who have low armor but very high health will be difficult for drow to burst down quickly: Primal Beast,
Axe,
Centaur Warrunner.
Broodmother
[wiki] rating: -1.6 (winrate: 54% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Primal Beast
* While Broodmother can hide in the trees with Spin Web, Primal Beast's ability to trample trees down can give him an edge in catching her.
* Insatiable Hunger will not do much vs Primal Beast's onslaught of disables.
* While Silken Bola can slow Primal Beast down, it's not enough to stop Trample from doing more damage than Broodmother can do back.
* Spawn Spiderlings will be destroyed by Onslaught and Trample very easily.
Nature's Prophet
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 46% pickrate: 12%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with unorthodox escapes will struggle against Primal Beast, such as Nature's Prophet,
Tinker, and
Templar Assassin.
Luna
[wiki] rating: -1.2 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Primal Beast
* Any hero who lanes very poorly will struggle with Primal Beast's potential snowball in the very early levels, like Keeper of the Light,
Luna,
Templar Assassin...
Morphling
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 44% pickrate: 8%)Primal Beast
* Morphling relies on Attribute Shift (Agility Gain) to take last-hits. Primal Beast's burst damage ability can constantly threaten Morphling, especially due to his short attack range. If forced to escape with
Waveform, Primal Beast can catch up with Onslaught.
Medusa
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 45% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Medusa's
Stone Gaze forces Mars to choose between getting petrified, or turning his vulnerable back on Medusa.
Mars
* Bulwark can make each of Medusa's attacks target him instead, reducing Medusa's contribution on team fights.
* Spear of Mars stuns Medusa and also pushes her away from teamfights, taking advantage of Medusa's low mobility.
* Arena Of Blood blocks Medusa's attacks from outside the arena.
Primal Beast
* Hard carries who just want to farm and be left alone will not appreciate Primal Beast, heroes such as Medusa,
Drow Ranger...
Monkey King
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Mars
* If visible, Mars can knock Monkey King off his Tree Dance with God's Rebuke, as well as Spear of Mars. Arena of Blood also destroys a large swath of trees, which can disrupt Monkey King's positioning and turn him vulnerable should he choose to hide in trees.
* Mars can endure Jingu Mastery attacks simply by facing him with Bulwark.
* Mars can end Wukong's Command early by displacing Monkey King with a well-thrown Spear of Mars. Mars can also endure most of his clones with Bulwark.
Additional:
* Monkey King's natural reliance on trees makes him an exceptionally prime target for Spear of Mars. Should Monkey King use Mischief to disguise himself, it will still hit him, stunning him in the process.
* God's Rebuke easily pushes Monkey King out of Wukong's Command.
Ancient Apparition
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 5%)Primal Beast
* Since Primal Beast is highly mobile with Onslaught alone, he will be difficult to catch with both Cold Feet and
Ice Blast.
* Ice Blast is less effective due to Primal Beast's massive health pool and resistance to taking damage.
* While Chilling Touch can be used to slow Primal Beast briefly, it is not enough to beat him back, and can also contribute to his Uproar stacks.
Razor
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Primal Beast
* Onslaught prevents all of Razor's abilities from being effective against him, especially in the laning stage.
Meepo
[wiki] rating: -1.0 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 1%)Mars
* Bulwark blocks the attack from Meepo and his clones.
* Spear of Mars &
God's Rebuke prevents Meepo and his clones from initiation or escaping.
Doom
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 8%)Mars
* Heroes who can disable Mars but cannot do any damage to him, meaning he just tanks their abilities: Doom,
Magnus.
Chaos Knight
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Primal Beast
* Illusion heroes will struggle against Primal Beast's area damage capability, such as Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Terrorblade.
Hoodwink
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 13%)Mars
* Heroes that can negate Hoodwink's mobility: Kunkka,
Disruptor,
Mars.
Templar Assassin
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 4%)Primal Beast
* Any hero who lanes very poorly will struggle with Primal Beast's potential snowball in the very early levels, like Keeper of the Light,
Luna,
Templar Assassin...
Witch Doctor
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 15%)Primal Beast
* Heroes who cannot escape from Trample early might be easy first blood. Heroes like Witch Doctor and
Omniknight should play very cautiously alone...
Techies
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 48% pickrate: 10%)Mars
* Heroes with forced movement abilities or non-interrupting forced movement, such as Lion,
Drow Ranger,
Magnus,
Mars, as they can cancel blast-off mid air, removing his ability to initiate or escape.
Keeper of the Light
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Primal Beast
* Any hero who lanes very poorly will struggle with Primal Beast's potential snowball in the very early levels, like Keeper of the Light,
Luna,
Templar Assassin...
Crystal Maiden
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 13%)Primal Beast
* Any hero with low mobility and max healthsuch as Silencer,
Crystal Maiden etc.
Phantom Lancer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 2%)Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Abaddon
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 6%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Bounty Hunter
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Heroes who rely on their target to run away: Riki,
Bounty Hunter.
Naga Siren
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 3%)Primal Beast
* Illusion heroes will struggle against Primal Beast's area damage capability, such as Chaos Knight,
Naga Siren,
Terrorblade.
Night Stalker
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 4%)Mars
* Heroes that are hard to gank: Dragon Knight,
Mars,
Centaur Warrunner.
Clinkz
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 7%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Silencer
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 52% pickrate: 15%)Primal Beast
* Any hero with low mobility and max healthsuch as Silencer,
Crystal Maiden etc.
Anti-Mage
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Heroes who cannot fight back during Arena of Blood in the early and mid game: Abaddon,
Anti-Mage,
Broodmother,
Luna,
Sniper,
Troll Warlord,
Weaver,
Clinkz.
Treant Protector
[wiki] rating: -0.6 (winrate: 53% pickrate: 16%)Mars
* Heroes with the capability of removing or destroying trees greatly hinders the effectiveness of Treant Protector's abilities: Batrider,
Nature's Prophet,
Lina,
Enigma,
Mars
Pugna
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 47% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Nether Blast,
Decrepify and
Life Drain deal high magical damage and bypasses Bulwark.
* Nether Ward reduces the amount of abilities Mars can use during fights and forces Mars to be careful about the heavy mana cost of Arena Of Blood.
* Pugna is one of few heroes that can contest Mars' ability to push and defend towers early on.
Primal Beast
* Trample and Pulverize can be used to cancel Life Drain very quickly.
* Pugna has a very low strength gain and as a support does not have much gold to buy health items, making him vulnerable to Primal Beast's onslaught of magical damage.
* Ironically, Decrepify actually just increases Primal Beast's damage on the targeted ally if Trample is activated. However, it can be used to slow him down and prevent any further Trample damage.
Bloodseeker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 49% pickrate: 3%)Primal Beast
* Primal Beast's abilities require movement to deal damage, making Rupture potentially deadly and debilitating. Furthermore, its initial damage based on the target's current health is devastating to a full-health Primal Beast with his high strength gain and thus high HP.
* Due to his reliance on spells, Primal Beast is vulnerable to Blood Rite's powerful silence without items to counter it. While silenced, Primal Beast cannot retaliate effectively with his spells.
Mars
* Arena Of Blood prevents Bloodseeker from attacking a Ruptured target.
* Bulwark helps Mars survive Rupture ganks simply by turning towards Bloodseeker without moving.
* Spear of Mars and God's Rebuke can push Bloodseeker from Ruptured targets.
Weaver
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 50% pickrate: 3%)Primal Beast
* Shukuchi allows Weaver to have faster move-speed and can outrun Primal Beast in most instances, such as while he is trampling.
* Trample disarms Primal Beast, so casting The Swarm can make him vulnerable to ranged attacks. Primal Beast also has an innately slow attack speed and will take long destroying the latched parasite.
* Time Lapse allows Weaver to negate and heal burst damage, which Primal Beast is reliant on.
Mars
* Shukuchi cannot help Weaver escape from Arena of Blood, and can most likely die if detected through invisibility.
* If pinned to the arena's walls, Time Lapse tends to not be enough to save Weaver, as God's Rebuke can keep him burst down thanks to its damage scaling.
* The Swarm and
Geminate Attack are not enough to pierce through Bulwark.
Lich
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 51% pickrate: 9%)Primal Beast
* Supports who can slow him to the point Trample does very little damage in lane are also not fun: Lich,
Ogre Magi,
Winter Wyvern.
Mars
* Heroes who lack burst damage will have a hard time against Mars: Phantom Lancer,
Nature's Prophet,
Lich.
Omniknight
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 55% pickrate: 3%)Mars
* Heroes that can save their allies can be a big problem for Mars: Dazzle,
Omniknight.
Primal Beast
* Heroes who cannot escape from Trample early might be easy first blood. Heroes like Witch Doctor and
Omniknight should play very cautiously alone...
Tinker
[wiki] rating: 0.0 (winrate: 56% pickrate: 11%)Mars
* Heroes with high magical or pure damage will bypass Bulwark: Timbersaw,
Dark Willow,
Enigma,
Invoker,
Pugna,
Skywrath Mage,
Tinker,
Zeus,
Oracle.
Primal Beast
* Heroes with unorthodox escapes will struggle against Primal Beast, such as Nature's Prophet,
Tinker, and
Templar Assassin.
To start select enemy heroes in the field above. It's intended to be used with multiple heroes. The more enemy heroes you provide the better results you will get.
About
This website was made to help you in pick stage of online game Dota 2. It calculates rating for each possible counterpicks based on tips from web-based database made up entirely of user contributions Dota 2 wiki.
You will get the list of recommended hero counters with a list of tips written by Dota 2 wiki contributors explaining why it's good against the particular hero. In comparison to other similar websites, which show only rating based on average hero win rate from dotabuff or similar service.
How to interpret this data
Take it with a bit of grain of salt, especially if the recommendation has a low rating (<= 1), some heroes
may win a lane in an early game but would lose in late game (and vice versa). That's why sometimes
you could hero names appearing as a counter and as being countered, as on image:
You can also add your own tips, update old data and fix mistakes by editing page on Dota 2 Wiki (it works like Wikipedia - anyone can contribute, you don't even need to register) these edits will appear on this website automatically (data is updated several times per week).
Right now there is no app/overlay that will detect picks automatically (like overwolf dota plus or become the gamer), instead, you can open web version in a steam in-game browser or use mobile version on your smartphone.
Want to know more? Check FAQ
List of new features that have been added
- Results now also sorted both by rating and average hero win rate for the chosen rank (data from dotabuff)
- You can share counterpick suggestions just by copying URL. Try it: Pudge and Phantom Assassin counters
- Results from the left and right column are partially merged now: the green color shows counterpicks and red color heroes who are countered by an enemy pick.
- Added link next to each hero pointing to wiki hero page
- Counterpick suggestions will appear as you type
- Added statistics: Total entries in the database: 557, last updated: about 1 month ago
- Filtering by role: carry/durable/support - data taken directly from the game (basically the filters which you see on pick stage in dota)
- Filtering by lane: off lane/safe lane/mid lane (lane data is parsed from hero guides dotabuff)
- Tips now include icons next to the heroes/spells/item names (just like on Dota 2 wiki)
- Added item suggestions
- Heroes now can be searched by their abbreviations: CM - Crystal Maiden, Kotl - Keeper Of The Light, AM - Anti Mage etc.
- Mobile website version
- Improved UX on small screens - when selecting heroes page automatically scrolls so hero select input is displayed at the very top of screen, leaving more space for results.
- importing picks from dotabuff/opendota URL or matchid
- sorting by personal win rate after logging via steam
- dota overlay(like Overwolf Dota Plus) that will automatically detect picks and bans this will also bring synergy and ban suggestion based on opponent recent games and most played/highest win rate heroes (but don't expect it soon).
Sharing link to this site is always appreciated.
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Mars
* Time Dilation while
Spear of Mars and
God's Rebuke are on cooldown will make these abilities unusable for a long time, rendering Mars nearly useless.
Bulwark completely.
Time Walk allows Faceless Void to escape or enter Arena Of Blood, and helps him recover from Mars' burst damage.
Time Lock's magical damage ignores Bulwark.
Chronosphere allows Faceless Void to reposition behind Mars, ignoring his Bulwark while he is helplessly frozen in time.
* Mars cannot turn inside the Chronosphere, which makes it easy to attack him from the back, bypassing
Additional:
*
*
*
Primal Beast
*
Time Walk makes it impossible for Primal Beast to stay on top of Faceless Void with his abilities and allows him to heal burst damage dealt to him.
Aghanim's Shard, Onslaught can be easily escaped. He could also choose to get a lower cooldown on Time Walk, making it even harder for Primal Beast to catch him in fights or stop his initiations.
Time Dilation will make Primal Beast useless for an extended time after casting his abilities if he does not have a dispel.
Chronosphere has many uses such as stopping Primal Beast from casting abilities on him or allies or even on a teammate, since Primal Beast has no way to assist allies trapped within the sphere.
* Once Faceless Void has an
*
*